Archive for May 18th, 2009

We leave for Wisconsin tomorrow, to spend a couple of days with my parents in Milwaukee before the con, and will be heading home on Tuesday. Here’s my official programming schedule:

Fri 9:00AM – 12:00PM, Senate B: Writers’ Workshop Open only to writers who submitted stories before the convention.

Fri 9:00 – 10:15PM, Senate B: Turns Out This Is Your Dad’s SF/FDavid D. Levine (moderator), Eileen Gunn, Chip Hitchcock, Brad Lyau, Pat Murphy Back in the 30s SF/F was a welcome escape from Cowboy and Indian/Detective fiction that consumed American pop culture. The “new” of SF/F built up steam and seemed to blossom in the 50s and 60s. The 70s new weird was “not your dad’s SF” and the 80s cyberpunk wasn’t your dad’s SF, and the 90s/00s post-human wasn’t your dad’s SF. This panel will debate the assertion that there is little “new” that can be added to SF, and that, coupled with the fact that we are clearly living in an SF world, makes SF writing near impossible. How are writers and readers handling the inevitable alchemy of the time?

Sun 2:30 – 3:45PM, Wisconsin: The Rules: Use or Abuse ThemDavid D. Levine (moderator), Ellen Klages, Benjamin Rosenbaum, Joan D. Vinge, Patricia C Wrede Many beginning writers are taught such rules as “Never use adverbs” or “Avoid using fancy synonyms for ‘said.'” While these rules may help writers avoid overwriting their prose, the rules can also hamper writers from developing their own unique voices. Are these rules a hinderance or a help? Which rules can be bent or broken effectively? What are the best ways to apply these rules, both to your own writing or to someone else’s?

Sun 4:00 – 5:15PM, Caucus: Humor in Feminist Speculative FictionDavid D. Levine (moderator), Charlie Anders, Cynthia Gonsalves, Heather Lindsley A common criticism of feminists is lack of a sense of humor, yet Ellen Klages and Geoff Ryman successfully use humor in their work. What about other authors? Is the humor in Russ’s The Female Man missed by some readers? Is humor used for satire more or less successful than other kinds of humor?

Mon 11:30AM – 12:45PM, Capitol/Wisconsin: The SignOut Come and sign your works, come and get things signed, come and hang out and wind down before you leave.

About David

David D. Levine is the author of novel Arabella of Mars (Tor 2016) and over fifty SF and fantasy stories. His story “Tk’Tk’Tk” won the Hugo, and he has been shortlisted for awards including the Hugo, Nebula, Campbell, and Sturgeon. Stories have appeared in Asimov’s, Analog, F&SF, five Year’s Best anthologies, and his award-winning collection Space Magic.